I am a cultural historian of modern warfare. My work examines how war transforms individuals’ lives, with a particular interest in the themes of gender, emotions and memory.

My most recent research focuses upon the subjectivities' of British prisoners of war held in Germany and Italy in the Second World War. I examine three aspects of these men's experiences of captivity: the social worlds in which they lived whilst held behind barbed wire, the psychological strains they experienced in captivity and their memories of captivity. My research shows that during captivity, and immediately afterwards, the ways in which these men made sense of their experiences were ambivalent, confused and contradictory. Later in life, however, British prisoners of war in the Second World War came to understand their lives in captivity by drawing upon the traditional discourses of warfare.

I have previously researched and published upon masculinity in the First World War, more specifically the visits of British soldiers to visit legalised brothels or maisons tolérées in France. By drawing upon letters, diaries, memoirs and oral histories, I examined why British soldiers visited prostitutes during the war, their reactions to the brothels and the women themselves, and how they dealt with the potential consequences: venereal disease. I argue that extramarital virility was an acknowledge and accepted, but not essential, aspect of masculinity and that acceptable masculine behaviour altered according to a man's marital status, rank, nationality and race.

I am a Teaching Fellow within the History Department at UCL. I teach a BA seminar course on 'Gender in Modern British history, c.1850-1939' and an MA field of study entitled 'Gender and Sexuality in modern Britain, c1850 to the present'. I have also taught a variety of courses at Birkbeck College, University of London. I taught 'British history since 1750' for two academic years, leading twenty seminars on social and political themes of British history since 1750 to the present day. I also taught 'Study Skills' to first year BA students for two academic years and led a series of seminars on 'Mastering Historical Research' to MA students studying 'Contemporary History and Politics'.